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POLITICO 44

Amid intense GOP criticism and demands for his resignation Monday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and his allies mounted a vigorous defense back home in the wake of his controversial comments about President Barack Obama’s race.

Dismissing rumors that he would call it quits, Democrats intensified their efforts to reach out to African-American voters and, in both Nevada and Washington, rebutted suggestions that Reid’s comments — which came amid public polling showing him losing to three little-known GOP challengers — have essentially sealed his fate with voters in November.

The concern, some Democrats familiar with the effort said, is to prevent that impression from becoming conventional wisdom, since it will make it harder for Reid’s campaign to energize the base and get voters out to the polls in the general election.

Following this weekend’s revelations of damaging comments Reid made in 2008 — when he called Obama a “light-skinned” African-American who didn’t speak with a “Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one” — Reid’s team is eager to show that the 70-year-old, four-term senator has the backing of both the Democratic Party and the black community as he prepares for battle over the next 10 months.

On Thursday, Reid’s campaign will hold an “African-Americans for Reid” event headlined by prominent Democratic political strategist Donna Brazile, along with other senior black leaders. And on Monday, Reid’s team announced that Obama would head to Nevada in February — an event rescheduled from January but a clear sign of the president’s support for the embattled leader. The president also spoke publicly for the first time in strong support of the Nevada Democrat.

Reid took his first steps Monday to address the controversy publicly, attempting to show contrition for his comments, promoting his record on civil rights and saying he would stay in his post as majority leader.

“I’ve apologized to the president; I’ve apologized to everyone that [can hear] the sound of my voice that I could have used a better choice of words,” Reid acknowledged in a press conference in Apex, Nev. “I’ll continue to do my work for the African-American community.”

“We have a lot of work to do, and I will continue to do my very best for the people of the state of Nevada and this country,” Reid told reporters.

Readers' Comments (54)

I was just in Las Vegas in December and there was a Reid ad every commercial break. You probably couldn't buy more time. And still the voters hate him. I think he may need to move. Maybe he can run in New York or California.

Making racist comments is okay as long as you are a powerful Democrat. It's an interesting lesson in contemporary politics. If I made the same comment, I would definitely be called a racist by all my left leaning friends and by any African-American I ever encountered. But, then again, nobody's worried that if I go down the whole party might go down with me!

At least Lott had the dignity to step down. Reid has none of that. He will take African American votes then turn around and make comments about negroes. What does that say about Reid? What does that say about Democrats?

Is there any such thing as an HONEST DEMOCRAT in Congress today? Here is yet another lying, corrupt dirtbag who thinks he is entitled to everything he can steal:

Report: Rep. Ackerman may have violated ethics rules with loan deal

By Jordan Fabian - 01/11/10 03:31 PM ET

Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) may have broken House ethics rules for taking a sweetheart loan from a defense contractor, according to the New York Daily News.

The veteran Queens, N.Y. lawmaker reportedly put no money down when he purchased private stock in Xenonics, Inc., instead using $14,000 borrowed from his friend, who was the company's leading shareholder.

The Daily News reported the allegations on Monday.

The loan had no payback date and no collateral, which may violate House ethics rules.

Do people in other states think that we are so stupid that we would get rid of a senate majority leader in exchange for a no-name, no-power first term senator? Maybe the people in South Dakota, but not Nevada. We need to have Harry Reid stay on Capitol Hill...to help President Obama's program and help Nevada get more jobs, better schools and decent healthcare.

Carpetbaggers. stay out of Nevada. We can select and re-elect our own senator.

Reason number 105,001 Nevada voters need to replace Senator Harry Reid: He still thinks it’s1950 and light-skinned Negroes can pass as long as they check their ghetto dialect at the door. The aging statesman’s racially charged remarks recently revealed in the new book “Game Change,” by journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, may have consumed the cable talk show circuit but whether you agree or disagree that Reid’s remarks are racist is almost irrelevant.

What they reveal, is. At the least, the racially insensitive comments are not only inherently dangerous coming from a Senate majority leader in our 21st century society, but further highlight a glaringly blatant double standard that exposes a strong undertone of archaic thinking. Thinking, that a majority of Americans agree should be rooted out. Thinking in which white Democrats are consistently given a pass but white Republicans are not. And the kind of thinking Democrats are quick to accuse their political opponents of, yet never seem to denounce with the same level of condemnation within their own ranks (if at all.)

Exhibit A: Virginia Governor and DNC chairman, Tim Kaine. A pitiful excuse for a spokesperson on the subject, Kaine perpetuated the party’s tired line of defense on the Sunday talk shows. He was repeatedly asked to either denounce or at the very least acknowledge how offensive Reid’s remarks were and just could not bring himself to do so. He hemmed and hawed with pat statements about how sorry the senator was, while peppering his comments with his own downright condescension: “It definitely was in the context of recognizing in Senator Obama a great candidate and future president,” Kaine insisted to Chris Wallace. Really? Then why couldn’t Reid have just said that? How hard would it have been for the Senate Majority leader to say, “I think Obama would make a great president,” without further perpetuating black stereotypes? Conflating Reid’s remarks even more, Kaine chose to continue down his asinine road of logic, rather than simply admitting it was a bone-headed thing to say and Reid should be sorry. As a result it set him up to be defined by his counterpart, Michael Steele, when he said Kaine has just “lost all credibility.” He has. It’s no wonder Virginians replaced the out-of-touch term-limited Democrat with a Republican who surely has enough common sense to acknowledge stupidity when he sees it.

Sadly, the rest of Democratic Congressional leadership has continued to follow Kaine’s lead, in full spin mode, clarifying Reid’s words by suggesting that what he said was a “mistake” or that he “misspoke.” Even one network talk show “journalist” (rhymes with metropolis) chimed in and went so far as to characterize Reid’s remarks as “a private conversation.” Excuse me, but aren’t most racial remarks made in private? So, is that the new justification for Democrats to get a pass?

For the sake of argument, supposed it was just a first time “mistake” or slip of the tongue. No such luck for Mr. Reid. As the National Review’s Jonah Goldberg points out, this most recent “mistake” seems to an established pattern:

“His remarks about then-candidate Obama remind me of his offensively dismissive comments about Justice Clarence Thomas from December 2004. Back then Reid called a Thomas an “embarrassment” on the court because “his opinions were poorly written,” yet when asked to support his charge, Reid fell flat, making patently false claims about Thomas’ opinions.”

One time maybe, this time it’s a behavioral pattern with Reid. A bubbling undercurrent that’s come up to the surface with regularity. While Goldberg makes a valid point to warn Republican politicians against falling into hypocrisy by making this an issue “solely in the spirit of payback,” there are bigger questions to be addressed in my view. Just who is the arbiter of what the standard for racism/racial insensitivity is and is why there one standard for some but not others?

These are questions that never seem to get answered with each new round of racial finger pointing between the political parties. The only absolute that is clear here is that there is a double standard, this most recent revelation further confirms it and once again the black civil rights elite have given White Democrats a pass for matters in which they’ve demanded Republican resignations and worse. Even more obvious to me is the revelation of how much more racially insensitive Democrats have been during the 2008 presidential campaign than Republicans. From Harry Reid, Joe Biden to Bill Clinton—they’ve all been caught with their hand in the racial cookie jar. And they’ve all been given a pass. Republicans are right to push back and should not let Reid off the hook.

For Reid’s part, he has apologized and already “moved on.” But was it because he was truly sorry or because he got caught? My guess is the latter and so it is no wonder he wants to try and forget about it. Yet still, the Congressional Black Caucus, NAACP and the ever effusive Rev. Al Sharpton quickly came to his defense without an iota of disappointment—claiming that black people aren’t offended. As a black woman, I beg to differ. They certainly don’t speak for me.

The Senate may not retire Mr. Reid, but voters in Nevada should. And in doing so, banish his brand of racial neutrality, with a much more “progressive” candidate.

It's better that Hairy doesn't quit. He will be the lightning rod for criticism and a primary example of what's fatally wrong with the Democrat party. It's best he explain why Seniors have to sacrifice so that illegal aliens can have free health care. It's best that he explain why there is COLA for social security while he voted himself $4000 and $5000 raises the last two years.

Do people in other states think that we are so stupid that we would get rid of a senate majority leader in exchange for a no-name, no-power first term senator?

only voters like you..thankfully now in a small minority. Your blind love for one of the most corrupt politicians in our history is duly noted. I'll try to shed a tear for your beloved Dirty Harry when he is shellacked at the polls this Novemeber...Boo Hoo !

Very few former congressmen have household names, but Michael Oxley, R-Ohio, is an exception, because he co-sponsored the sweeping post-Enron regulations of pubicly traded companies, now known as Sarbanes-Oxley.

So what do you do after imposing complex and burdensome new regulations on the stock market?

You become the lobbyist for the stock market.

Oxley, an advisor to the board of NASDAQ, which is a for-profit company, is now officially a lobbyist for NASDAQ. This is not too different from when the hedge-fund industry hired Rep. Richard Baker, one of the first congressmen ever to propose hedge-fund regulation, as its top lobbyist.

Do you think Oxley would have the lobbying gigs he has now had he decided that deregulation was called for post-Enron?

Harry is no moderate. He's a snake. A slimy ultra-liberal snake changed by Washington DC corruption. Harry needs to go. Can we please elect Scott Brown from MA next week. And Throw Harry Reid out in NOV. This will absolutely save the country from Socialism. Imagine Brown in Ted Kennedy's seat. What a shocker!!! Lets make it happen send the funds to Brown and lets start the American Revolution in MA. Keep a Weakened Harry Reid in NV. He's toast, why throw him out now. He and his son are usefull idiots. Make Harry's right hand man Jim Manely will have an attack of the conscience and resign. I dont see how these goons sleep at night given the pain they cause millions of Americans. Time for voters to step out of the D and R pattern and vote for real change. Vote to start a revolution. Vote for the future. Stop socialized healthcare and stop the uncontrolled spending. Shame on us for electing Obama shame on Obama Harry and Nancy for leading us into the abyss.

My daughter lives in Las Vegas and things are so bad there that it may takes many years to recover. On top of the economy there is the President saying no businesses should have meeting in Las Vegas, that's assuming they could still afford to do it. Reid is out permanently. This comment just allows people to see what an addlpated moron he really is.

The people "back home" need to remove this racist from office. I trust in the good people of Nevada to do this very thing in November. I am sure they will remove him.

There is no place for racism in our government. It is surprising that the Dems elected him as their leader. It is even more surprising that they defend him now. This reveals them as unprincipled legislators who fail to live up to the moral standards that they advocate for others.

Dems champion themselves as protectors of minorities. This proves that this is a false face that they put on for public relations purposes. They will defend a bigot over a minority every time. When the bulk of america wants to judge people by the content of their character, Reid and the Dems judge people by the color of their skin and the accent in their dialect.

Reid's "I'm stupid" defense won't hold up in the court of public opinion. The corrupt old gaffer is facing the voters' guillotine and should just go gracefully. It's over Harry....and absolutely no-one will miss you, especially your weasely son.